1. Technical Description
The present disclosure is directed to a surgical stapling device and, more particularly, to an endoscopic surgical stapling device including an articulating tool assembly having an assembly including a knife clamp member and an actuation sled.
2. Background of Related Art
Surgical stapling devices for endoscopic use are known and include a tool assembly having a pair of jaws that are movable in relation to each other between open and clamped or approximated positions. Typically, one jaw of the tool assembly supports a staple cartridge having a plurality of staples and the other jaw of the tool assembly supports an anvil assembly. The tool assembly is supported on a distal portion of an elongate body of the surgical stapling device. In known stapling devices, the tool assembly is supported on the distal portion of the elongate body to improve access to tissue within a patient during an endoscopic surgical procedure.
Linear surgical stapling devices for endoscopic use include a drive member that supports a knife and an actuation sled. The actuation sled is positioned distally of the drive member within the staple cartridge and is driven by the drive member from a retracted position to an advanced position as the drive member is advanced through the staple cartridge. The actuation sled is configured to sequentially eject the staples from the staple cartridge as the actuation sled moves towards the advanced position. The jaws of the tool assembly may also include a tissue stop that prevents tissue from being positioned within a tissue gap defined by the pair of jaws at a location proximally of the location of the staples of the staple cartridge. The actuation sled is positioned distally of the knife of the drive member to facilitate formation of the staples in tissue prior to transection of the tissue.
Typically, the drive member includes clamping structure such as an I-beam to move the jaws of the tool assembly from an open position to an approximated or clamped position and to limit the size of the tissue gap defined between the jaws of the tool assembly. In such devices, since the drive member is positioned proximally of the actuation sled and proximally of the tissue stop, a proximal portion of the tool assembly includes a substantial amount of dead space, i.e., space on the tool assembly that is unusable for performing a stapling or cutting operation. In a surgical stapling device having a tool assembly that articulates, the dead space extends from an articulating axis or pivot point of the tool assembly to the tissue stop. This dead space increases the overall length of the tool assembly. The increased overall length of the tool assembly restricts access of the tool assembly to areas within a body cavity during an endoscopic surgical procedure.
It would desirable to minimize the length of the dead space of a tool assembly of an endoscopic surgical stapling device having an articulating tool assembly to provide improved access to tissue within a body cavity of a patient during an endoscopic surgical procedure.